* * *
Jingyeom thought two hundred million won was a daunting amount but figured he could somehow manage it.
But when he heard the amount had doubled beyond his expectations, he was left speechless.
“Th-That much?”
As Jingyeom’s eyes trembled with anxiety, Soohyuk gently tugged at his cheek, telling him to calm down.
Jingyeom pulled Soohyuk’s hand away, frowning in pain.
“That’s just how private loans work. They raise interest rates however they want. It’s a place where normal rules don’t apply. That’s why people are warned against using them.”
In truth, the debt hadn’t grown from interest.
Baek Myungjun had borrowed again from private lenders, knowing Jinwoo had been steadily paying off the initial debt, so the lenders had extended more credit, and the debt swelled.
Unaware of this, Jingyeom’s eyes darted back and forth, his gaze lingering on the figure that was now more than double what he had originally anticipated.
“I wasn’t even sure I could pay back two hundred million, and now it’s four hundred… Can I really pay this back?”
When Jinwoo told him the amount six months ago, it was half of what it had become now.
It was hard to accept that it had doubled in such a short time.
He felt a deep sense of guilt and sympathy for Jinwoo, who had been struggling alone with this unreasonable debt.
Regret washed over him for having taken things too lightly.
“I’ll pay it off for you.”
Jingyeom looked at Soohyuk, his eyes still filled with uncertainty.
The words were reassuring, but something about the way Soohyuk looked at him made Jingyeom feel he might never escape his grasp.
“…The amount is so high… what if I can’t pay it all back?”
He wanted to say he’d repay every last won, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Seeing his hesitation, Soohyuk firmly held his hand.
Despite having asked for the help, he felt like a coward.
“Take your time to pay it back.”
‘For as long as you need.’
Soohyuk’s smile was both charming and calculated.
While it seemed unfair, he wanted to create any excuse to keep Jingyeom close.
“Thank you. I’ll work hard, make money, and pay every bit back. I mean it!”
Even for someone as wealthy as Soohyuk, loaning out such a vast amount wasn’t easy, especially to someone who’d been frequently hospitalized.
Jingyeom felt both grateful and guilty, knowing he was relying on Soohyuk’s goodwill.
Recognizing his selfishness, he sighed.
But in this situation, there was little choice.
Jingyeom pulled his hand away from Soohyuk’s, standing up.
“Let’s write up a loan agreement! I prepared one in advance!”
“You must’ve been confident I’d lend it to you.”
Unable to deny it, Jingyeom gave a nervous cough and looked away.
“Sit down. I’ll go get it. Where is it?”
Soohyuk gently pushed Jingyeom back into his seat and fetched the agreement from the cabinet, raising an eyebrow as he skimmed through it.
“You looked this up online?”
“Of course! I’m borrowing money; I can’t just wing it.”
He’d left the amount and interest sections blank, not knowing the exact numbers.
Soohyuk, who had also brought a pen, filled in the amount: ‘423,672,412.’
“The interest… let’s make it one thousand won a month. Due date: the year 2100.”
“Huh? How can the interest be a thousand won a month?”
“Is even a thousand too much? Should we make it interest-free?”
Jingyeom shook his head.
“Then it’s settled. And this clause here…”
[If the interest payment is overdue even once, the creditor may demand the full repayment of principal and interest, and the debtor must comply without objection.]
Soohyuk boldly crossed out the clause with his pen and wrote something new below it.
[If the interest payment is overdue even once, the debtor must fulfill three requests from the creditor.]
Jingyeom looked at it and protested.
“How would I even know what you’ll ask for?”
“Exactly! What kind of requests are we talking about?”
Seeing his concern, Soohyuk suggested he could instead pay back the entire principal amount, and Jingyeom quickly shook his head.
After all, it wasn’t like Soohyuk would make any unreasonable demands, and since the interest was only a thousand won, missing a payment didn’t seem likely.
Reluctantly, he agreed.
“Is it okay to just cross out stuff like this? Shouldn’t the document be neat?”
“It’s fine. We both agreed, didn’t we?”
Of course, no official document would be drafted this way.
But to Soohyuk, this loan agreement wasn’t legally binding paper—it was a promise between him and Jingyeom. The formalities didn’t matter.
As he watched the agreement take shape, Jingyeom couldn’t help but admire Soohyuk’s neat handwriting, so different from his own rounded letters.
“You write really well.”
Hearing this, Soohyuk’s pen paused.
“What is it?”
“…Nothing, just… no one’s ever complimented my handwriting before.”
A gentle smile appeared on Soohyuk’s face.
After finishing, he prepared two copies of the agreement.
“Check it over.”
“But… if I signed this, and you don’t help me pay, then what?”
“…Do I seem like that kind of person?”
Jingyeom chuckled, catching the look on Soohyuk’s face, as if to say he should’ve known better.
“No, I trust you.”
Signing the agreement, Jingyeom let out a long sigh.
He hadn’t managed to pass off the debt to Baek Myungjun, but he felt like he had made some progress.
When Soohyuk signed as well, the agreement was complete.
“Well, now you owe me, Baek Jingyeom.”
Jingyeom neatly folded the agreement, clutching it as he nodded with a look of satisfaction.
The debt was now his, yet Soohyuk noticed he looked strangely relieved.
‘Why would he go this far for Baek Jinwoo?’
Though he’d helped for Jingyeom’s sake, part of him wished he could leave Jinwoo to deal with it alone.
After all, the debt had been transferred to Wonbeom, and there was no need for urgency in repaying it.
Instead of feeling proud of Jingyeom’s determination, he felt like he was sinking deeper into complicated feelings.
Trying to shake off this mood, Soohyuk playfully suggested, “Hey, Jingyeom, how about a celebratory kiss for signing the agreement?”
“That’s… a strange excuse.”
“Thought I’d give you a reason to go along with it.”
Soohyuk grinned and winked, and Jingyeom instinctively licked his lips, trying to moisten them.
To Soohyuk, it looked like he was inviting him.
After hesitating a moment, Jingyeom quickly shook his head.
“No way!”
“But we’ve done it before. Why not now?”
“Well, that’s something you only do in a relationship.”
“…Are you a kid? Even kids these days don’t think like that.”
Seeing Soohyuk’s baffled expression, Jingyeom turned his head abruptly.
“Anyway!”
“So cold. But fine, I’ll take it.”
Soohyuk pulled Jingyeom into a tight hug, pressing his face into the back of his head and giving a series of quick, noisy kisses.
Jingyeom’s shoulders hunched up as he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Haha!”
Noticing Jingyeom’s reddened ears and neck, Soohyuk laughed, thoroughly enjoying the moment.
“You’re so cute. It’s driving me crazy.”
It was a long time before Jingyeom finally escaped Soohyuk’s embrace.
Soohyuk left, and Jingyeom stared at his phone with a broken screen, his gaze heavy and conflicted.
Though he didn’t show it in front of Soohyuk, something about the situation felt unsettled.
Jinwoo had thrown all his time into working to pay off this debt.
With his looks, he could have easily paid it back if he’d pursued a career in entertainment…
“Because of Baek Jingyeom, he wasted so much precious time.”
Jinwoo, who let countless bright opportunities slip by just to stay by Jingyeom’s side, lingered in his thoughts.
Still, a part of Jingyeom was relieved that Jinwoo didn’t have to keep working himself to the bone just to pay off loan sharks.
“We can just start over.”
Now it was time for both Jinwoo and him to slowly walk their own paths.
Even though the debt wasn’t gone—only transferred to Soohyuk as the creditor—he somehow felt a sense of relief.
Yet he still felt sorry toward Soohyuk.
And there was the lingering worry that one day Soohyuk might change his mind and alter the situation.
“…I’ll deal with that when it happens.”
The next day, a message arrived from Soohyuk: the debt was fully repaid.
Jingyeom couldn’t find the words to express his gratitude for Soohyuk’s quick action in fulfilling his promise.
Now that the debt was resolved, the only thing left was to tell Jinwoo.
“When should I tell him? How should I say it?”
Jingyeom stole a glance at Jinwoo, who was reading a book on the sofa, and buried his face into a pillow.
It was a daunting task to bring it up, especially knowing Jinwoo wouldn’t just take the news calmly.
He felt even more hesitant to open his mouth.
But since he’d have to tell him eventually, he figured it might be better to relieve Jinwoo of this burden sooner rather than later.
He decided to tackle it head-on, right here and now, and sat up.
As he stepped off the bed, Jinwoo looked over, curious.
Jingyeom nervously fiddled with nearby objects, slowly inching toward the sofa.
“Hey, Jinwoo…”
“Yeah?”
“Um… you know, that thing…”
Even as he stammered, Jinwoo waited calmly.
“In truth…”
A moment later, Jinwoo, now visibly tense, gripped his phone tightly and headed to the rooftop garden.
Though he wanted to dash to the company, he couldn’t just leave Jingyeom behind.
He knew exactly who he needed to call.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Director Sun.”
“Oh, what a surprise! Baek Jinwoo’s calling me.”
Jinwoo gritted his teeth.
He hadn’t realized how much he despised that easygoing tone.
“I heard from Jingyeom.”
“Oh, no more calling me ‘hyung,’ I see.”
“…”
“You used to address me properly, you know.”
“I’ve decided not to, for Jingyeom’s sake.”
Jinwoo’s curt response drew a slight chuckle from Soohyuk.
“Well, if you both agreed on it, then…”
“I understand you paid off the debt, Director Sun. The claim had been transferred to Lee Cheongoh. Was that really necessary?”
“Jingyeom wanted it that way.”
“Even so, I am the debtor. It’s set up that way. You went ahead and paid it without consulting me.”
Jinwoo’s hand, gripping his phone, trembled.
Just because Soohyuk took over the debt didn’t mean it was gone.
Jinwoo still had to pay it back to him.
The real issue was that the debtor had shifted—from Baek Jinwoo to Baek Jingyeom.
“If Jingyeom hadn’t wanted this, I wouldn’t have done it. Why go to the trouble?”
“I’ll pay it back. Change the debtor to me.”
Soohyuk let out a dry laugh before replying.
“Baek Jinwoo, I think you’re sorely mistaken here. Do I have any reason to do as you say? Do you think you’re in a position to make demands of me so arrogantly?”
* * *
Thanks for the chapters
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👍
Fight fight fight
Yeyyy this is getting interesting
yas
Wow greatest
ووة
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